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Jack the Lad | |
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| Origin | England |
| Genres | British folk rock, rock music |
| Years active | 1973–76 and 1993–2003 |
| Labels | Charisma Elektra United Artists |
| Past members | Rod Clements Simon Cowe Ray Laidlaw Billy Mitchell Phil Murray Ian "Walter" Fairbairn |
Jack the Lad were a British folk rock group from North East England formed in 1973 by three former members of the most successful band of the period from the region, Lindisfarne. They moved from the progressive folk rock of Lindisfarne into much more traditional territory and were in the mid-1970s something of a northern counterpart to bands like Fairport Convention. They have also been seen as part of an important roots movement, rediscovering traditional Northumbrian music.
After two highly successful albums, Lindisfarne's third album Dingly Dell (1972) was a commercial and critical failure and the band split with main songwriter Alan Hull going off to perform solo projects and eventually reforming Lindisfarne with a new line-up later that year. [1] The remaining members: Rod Clements (bass, violin, guitar, vocals), Simon Cowe (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals), and Ray Laidlaw (drums) formed Jack the Lad with future Lindisfarne member Billy Mitchell (guitar, banjo, vocals). [2]
They had originally thought of calling themselves the Corvettes, but decided it would make them sound too much like a rock 'n' roll revival outfit, and instead took their name from a phrase that Status Quo had used when they and Lindisfarne were touring Australia together earlier that year. The phrase "Jack the Lad" is British slang for a "flashy, cocksure young man". The phrase may have its origins in a traditional British song called "Jack's the Lad", but the first recorded use of 'Jack the Lad' was in the 1969 film Performance . [3]
While Lindisfarne without them had become a harder rocking outfit, Jack the Lad retained much of the folksy spirit, warmth and good humour of the original group. Though his talents had previously been overshadowed by the more prolific songsmith Alan Hull, Clements, who had penned Lindisfarne's first hit single 'Meet me on the Corner', contributed three tracks, which in the view of some fans and critics was the equal of anything Lindisfarne produced at around the same time. Simon Cowe contributed two tracks while Billy Mitchell wrote or co-wrote five tracks. The remaining five titles were those featured in the traditional instrumental medley collectively named "A Corny Pastiche".
Lindisfarne's record label, Charisma Records, decided to keep the band under contract and the first line-up of Jack the Lad recorded one album for them, It's Jack the Lad which was released in 1974, and two singles, 'One More Dance' (1973), and 'Why Can't I Be Satisfied' (1974). [2] (This album was released in the US by Elektra Records, which had been Lindisfarne's American label.) [4] Neither charted, though they received positive reviews for their records and live performances which began to gain a reputation for outlandish entertainment. [2] The traditional roots of the band were evident in an 8-minute medley of jigs, reels and polkas on their first album, which staked a claim to their being in part a Geordie answer to Fairport Convention and a guest appearance on 'Song Without a Band' for Steeleye Span's Maddy Prior. The band toured with Ralph McTell, who was then at the height of his post 'Streets of London' fame. [5]
Clements left in late 1974 and was replaced by two former members of northern folk rock band Hedgehog Pie, Ian 'Walter' Fairbairn (guitar, mandolin, violin, banjo, vocals) and Phil Murray (bass, vocals), which inevitably, together with the loss of a main songwriter, gave the band a much more traditional focus. [2] This may have helped them gain greater acceptance in the folk world, and they headlined the Cambridge folk festival in 1974. On the second album The Old Straight Track (1974), five of the eleven tracks were traditional songs, three of the rest were written by Cowe with Mitchell only contributing one this time. The album was very well received and was voted Folk Album of the Year by Melody Maker.
The third album Rough Diamonds, which also featured musical and artistic contributions from Lindisfarne's Ray Jackson, and the single 'Gentleman Soldier' (both 1975), were both produced by Fairport Convention stalwart Simon Nicol. The latter, which featured John Kirkpatrick on button accordion, was a new arrangement of a traditional song which borrowed the vocal four-part harmony break from 'Twist And Shout' for the introduction, and featured a Scottish accordion reel back to back with a mock-heavy rock guitar solo. Presenter John Peel placed it at No.3 in his favourite singles of the year, calling it 'one of the most joyous records I've heard in my life'. but like all previous attempts it failed to chart.[ citation needed ]. Songwriting was split with Cowe and Mitchell contributing four songs each with the remaining three being traditional songs.
With no great commercial success forthcoming the band were dropped by Charisma and moved to United Artists. Cowe left shortly before the group recorded their final album, 'Jackpot', (1976). The need for success pushed this closer to pop and rock territory than its predecessors, with only two traditional tracks. With Cowe having left, Mitchell assumed the main songwriting duties contributing six tracks, the remaining two being cover versions, It featured Andy Bown on keyboards, and a brass section on some tracks. Despite the return to a more commercial sound chart success still eluded them. [6] The 'Jackpot' UK tour in Sep/Oct '76, bizarrely coupled with the NZ punk/goth orientated Split Enz did neither act any favours.[ citation needed ]
Laidlaw left to join Radiator and the group disbanded soon afterward. [6] Lindisfarne had split in early 1975, but Clements, Cowe and Laidlaw continued to join founder members Alan Hull and Ray Jackson to play Christmas concerts in their native Newcastle upon Tyne each year, and the response was so positive in 1977 that the original five reformed the following year and continued to record and perform until 2003. [7] As a result of the continued interest, Jack the Lad's albums were eventually released as CDs. Following this in 1993 Jack The Lad re-formed in as both the original band running side-by-side with their Lindisfarne commitments, and as a festival act which included Mitchell, Fairburn and Murray. [6]
Jack the Lad were one example of the music scene that flourished in the North-east of England in the late 1960s and early 1970s producing acts such as Animals, Lindisfarne and Hedgehog Pie. The shift from progressive folk rock into more traditional folk rock territory partly reflected the popularity of the genre at the time but also has been seen as part of a process of rediscovering regional musical roots that has continued with figures such as Kathryn Tickell and Nancy Kerr. [8]
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Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater. They started out influenced by American folk rock, with a set list dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs and a sound that earned them the nickname "the British Jefferson Airplane". Vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined them before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; afterwards, Dyble was replaced by Sandy Denny, with Matthews later leaving during the recording of their third album.
Lindisfarne are an English folk rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne established in 1968. The original line-up comprised Alan Hull, Ray Jackson, Simon Cowe, Rod Clements and Ray Laidlaw (drums).
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. An important grouping in the genre, it has contained or been associated with a large proportion of major English folk performers in its long and fluid history.
(guitar, vocal) is a 1976 album by Richard Thompson. It was released by Island Records as a career retrospective after he and his wife Linda had gone into semi-retirement from the business of making and performing music following the release of Pour Down Like Silver (1975).
Nicely Out of Tune is the debut album by Lindisfarne, released in late 1970. It charted more than a year after release, thanks to the huge success of their second album Fog on the Tyne, which topped the charts early in 1972.
Fog on the Tyne is a 1971 album by English rock band Lindisfarne. Bob Johnston produced the album, which was recorded at Trident Studios in Soho, London, in the mid-1971 and released in October that year on Charisma Records in the United Kingdom and Elektra Records in the U.S..
Dingly Dell is a 1972 album by English rock band Lindisfarne.
Rising for the Moon is the tenth studio album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in 1975. It reached number 52 in the UK albums charts. This was the last Fairport album to feature vocalist Sandy Denny.
Nine is a 1973 album by the British folk rock group Fairport Convention. It is their ninth album since their debut in 1968, and the second to include Trevor Lucas and Jerry Donahue. No original members of Fairport Convention were involved in making the album. According to AllMusic, it is the band's most uneven album.
Lindsay Raymond "Ray" Jackson is an English mandolin and harmonica player. He was a member and also joint lead vocalist, with Alan Hull, of the folk-rock group Lindisfarne from their original formation in 1970 until his departure in 1990. The group's drummer Ray Laidlaw shared the same forename, and thus Jackson was generally known in the group as "Jacka".
Roderick Parry Clements is a British guitarist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He formed the folk-rock band Lindisfarne with Alan Hull in 1970, and wrote "Meet Me on the Corner", a UK Top 5 hit in March 1972, which won Clements an Ivor Novello Award. Lindisfarne broke up in 1973 and Clements became a founding member of Jack the Lad, also working with Ralph McTell and Bert Jansch. Lindisfarne reformed in 1977 and Clements continued to be part of the line-up until 2003. Rod rejoined Lindisfarne in 2015 and is currently touring and performing with the band.
Hedgehog Pie were a British folk rock group from the north-east of England, that evolved between 1969 and 1971. Despite frequent line-up changes, they built up a considerable regional and national following and produced three highly regarded albums. They were connected to many of the most important folk and rock bands of the region from the 1970s and have been seen as one of the most significant groups in a rediscovery and popularisation of Northumbrian roots music.
Fairport Chronicles is a 1976 compilation album of the British folk-rock band Fairport Convention, including songs from 1968 to the departure of the last original member in 1972. The double album is unique in that it was only released in the USA, features original material and American covers over the traditional material usually associated with Fairport, and includes songs from side projects. All of the material was originally issued in the USA on A&M Records, which explains the exclusion of songs taken from their first, pre-Sandy Denny album, which was only later released in the United States.
Back and Fourth is a 1978 album by English rock band Lindisfarne. Released in nine countries on three record labels, it reached position 22 on the UK album charts and contained the successful single "Run for Home".
Sleepless Nights is a 1982 album by English rock band Lindisfarne. It was the first album to be released on the group's own record label, and peaked at position 59 in the UK album charts.
Festival Bell is the twenty-fifth studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2011.
By Popular Request is the twenty-sixth studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2012. It is a compilation of studio re-recordings of previous material.
Myths and Heroes is the twenty-seventh studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2015.
50:50@50 is the twenty-eighth studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2017 to mark the band's 50th anniversary. Half of the album was recorded in the studio, and the other half is a selection of songs recorded from live performances.
Simon Cowe was an English guitarist and multi-instrumentalist most noted as a member of the folk-rock group Lindisfarne from their original formation in 1970 until 1973, and then again from 1978 to his departure in 1993.
